Students at Sunset Elementary School arrange marshmallows and pretzel sticks in the design of constellations during a class activity.

MOULTRIE, Ga.  — “Today’s students, tomorrow’s healthcare professionals” has been a progressive mission of Sunset Elementary school for the last three years. Students, teachers, and Sunset staff have made it a mission to integrate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) into all content areas.

“The goal of our Medical STEM program is to teach the academic standards through a medical lens,” Sunset Principal Josh Purvis said. “STEM allows the teachers to integrate all of the content areas into one focus. This practice makes learning relevant and rigorous for students.”

In fifth grade, for example, students are learning about the Great Depression, the school said in a press release. In social studies, the students are reading non-fiction texts and developing a virtual presentation via Chromebooks to show the struggles families faced during this time period. In science, students are creating and experimenting with insulators and conductors of electricity, which would be important for families losing power in the Great Depression. In math, students are analyzing and graphing the differences in the value of U.S. money and stocks before and after to the Great Depression. In reading, students are reading a fiction book about the struggles a family faced during this difficult time. Finally, in the Medical STEM Lab, students are given materials and asked to create a model cast/splint for a child with a broken arm if the family couldn’t afford to take the child to receive medical attention during the Great Depression.

“It is extremely important that students connect content to real world experiences because it helps the student learn content more efficiently,” STEM Academic Coach Doug Yarbrough said.

Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College Moultrie director, Jena M. Willis shared, “This program provided Colquitt County elementary students with a unique and enriching opportunity for exposure to the medical STEM fields. This exposure will inspire goals that will provide students with motivation into their higher education years. This is an exciting prospect for us at ABAC, as we offer bachelor’s programs in biology and nursing.”

The overarching project for the Medical STEM program at Sunset is to promote healthy living, the school said. Throughout the year, students connect content learned in every subject with a medical emphasis while completing quarterly projects that push students to the overall project. The first quarter project was healthy activity as students completed projects that enabled them to use STEM concepts to determine how to help a person maintains a healthy heart rate. The second quarter project is healthy eating, which is what students are currently working on right now. First grade students are graphing the food they eat daily, then researching information to determine how many healthy foods they consume versus non-healthy foods. The third quarter project is childhood diseases, with the fourth quarter project serving as the culminating task of a health fair facilitated by students.

With a focus of promoting healthy living, Sunset Elementary School has partnered with OneBlood in an effort to not only learn about the importance of blood donation, but allow students to provide a service to the community.

“It is vitally important for us to model service for others to our students,” Purvis said. “We try our best to give students meaningful opportunities to treat others as more important than themselves. We strongly believe we can teach our students everything they need to know to ‘pass a test,’ but if we fail at teaching them the value of service, we have missed a wonderful opportunity to show our students how to use their great knowledge to make a positive difference in our world.”

Sunset Elementary’s blood drive, which is open to the public, will be held 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Nov. 7.

“Understanding the importance of having a healthy blood supply, the faculty, staff and parents at Sunset Elementary will be hosting the ‘Pint Size Hero’ blood drive,” said Pat Michaels, media and public relations official with OneBlood. “Get on the Big Red Bus and help save the lives of patients in our hospitals by donating blood.”

In order to donate, an individual must be at least 16 years of age, weigh a minimum of 110 pounds, and present a photo ID.

    In efforts for Sunset Elementary to connect students and faculty to real world professionals, Sunset Elementary has created partnerships with a variety of professionals in Moultrie and the surrounding area. One of Sunset’s primary community partners is Colquitt Regional Medical Center.

Jim Matney, president and chief executive officer of Colquitt Regional Medical Center stated, “It is our pleasure to partner with Sunset Elementary. It is our vision that by assisting with the STEM program there, our youth will grow up and dream of becoming  doctors, nurses, technicians  and/or many other medical professionals. I want to see this program grow . These students are our future caregivers.”

Southern Regional Technical College serves as another community sponsor for Sunset.

Leigh Wallace, Vice President for Student Affairs stated, “This November, we as a community have the unique opportunity to simultaneously benefit local elementary school students and area patients through Sunset Elementary’s OneBlood drive. From young children all the way up to college students at Southern Regional Technical College, STEM education in South Georgia is vital for training the next generation of professionals in the fields of medicine, research, computer and information technology, engineering, mathematics, automation, and innovation. Sunset Elementary’s One Blood Drive is a unique opportunity to witness STEM professions in action; and as a blood donor, you might just save a life!”

Willis with ABAC Moultrie shared, “ABAC Moultrie is thrilled to partner with Sunset Elementary to support medical STEM education in our community. I believe it is vital that organizations partner with local schools to support education. Our students are the future leaders and healthcare providers of this community.”

One of the expectations of STEM certified schools is community engagement. With a focus on promoting healthy living, a logical partnership for Sunset due to mission and proximity is the Moultrie YMCA.

Rich Gallagher, president and chief executive officer stated, “The Moultrie YMCA is proud to partner with Sunset Elementary as they work to become the first STEM certified school in our area. The Y is for youth development, healthy living and social responsibility and this initiative falls perfectly in line with our mission by providing resources for our youth that will develop their minds, promote healthy living and by showing them when we work together as a community anything is possible. We look forward to our involvement and hope to show the children, parents and our state how this community can come together to make a difference.”

According to Yarbrough, “Partnerships like this connect students to future professions as well as preparing teachers to educate young minds with a medical emphasis.”

Other organizations that Sunset Elementary has created partnerships with are the Colquitt County Sheriff’s Office and ABAC.